placestats

Adult literacy vs. Electricity access

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 135 countries, Adult literacy and Electricity access rise and fall together at r = +0.74 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.43 (q = 0.048, allowing for the many pairs tested). Much of the first figure is that both measures rise with national income, but a moderate positive link remains.

Comparing countries across the middle half of adult literacy, 75.2% to 97.8% of adults, electricity access is better by 22.2% of population at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 12.1% of population.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.737p = 2.4e-24 · 135 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.430p = 2.2e-7 · likely range [+0.28, +0.56]
p, allowing for regions0.005standard error 0.089 · 6 regions
Check for luck (q)0.048across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Adult literacy · % of adultslink with income +0.73 · high
Electricity access · % of populationlink with income +0.79 · high

Both of these rise and fall closely with national income, so a strong link between them before adjusting was close to certain. Read the adjusted figure, not the first one.

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Adult literacy · % of adults →Electricity access · % of population →30.6%100%13.4%100%Aruba: 96.8% of adults, 100% of populationAfghanistan: 37.3% of adults, 87.8% of populationAngola: 68.2% of adults, 55.5% of populationAlbania: 97.7% of adults, 100% of populationUnited Arab Emirates: 98.8% of adults, 100% of populationArgentina: 99.1% of adults, 98.4% of populationArmenia: 99.8% of adults, 100% of populationAzerbaijan: 99.8% of adults, 100% of populationBurundi: 71.3% of adults, 20.1% of populationBenin: 51.4% of adults, 59% of populationBurkina Faso: 41.6% of adults, 34% of populationBangladesh: 79% of adults, 99.5% of populationBulgaria: 98.3% of adults, 100% of populationBahrain: 97.8% of adults, 100% of populationBosnia and Herzegovina: 97% of adults, 100% of populationBelarus: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationBelize: 87.9% of adults, 99.6% of populationBolivia: 96.7% of adults, 96.6% of populationBrazil: 94.7% of adults, 99.8% of populationBrunei Darussalam: 96.1% of adults, 100% of populationBhutan: 64.9% of adults, 100% of populationCentral African Republic: 42.4% of adults, 18.2% of populationChile: 96.4% of adults, 99% of populationChina: 96.7% of adults, 100% of populationCote d'Ivoire: 50% of adults, 72.9% of populationCameroon: 72.6% of adults, 72% of populationCongo, Dem. Rep.: 68.5% of adults, 22.5% of populationColombia: 95.3% of adults, 98.9% of populationComoros: 75.6% of adults, 91.7% of populationCabo Verde: 88.5% of adults, 98.4% of populationCosta Rica: 97.4% of adults, 99.8% of populationCayman Islands: 98.9% of adults, 100% of populationCyprus: 98.7% of adults, 100% of populationDominican Republic: 94% of adults, 99.5% of populationEcuador: 93.5% of adults, 98.5% of populationEgypt, Arab Rep.: 79.5% of adults, 100% of populationSpain: 99.7% of adults, 100% of populationEstonia: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationEthiopia: 60.5% of adults, 56.6% of populationGabon: 88.9% of adults, 95.1% of populationGeorgia: 99.7% of adults, 100% of populationGhana: 76.5% of adults, 91.9% of populationGuinea: 39.6% of adults, 53.8% of populationGambia, The: 51.6% of adults, 69% of populationGuinea-Bissau: 63.9% of adults, 43.7% of populationGuatemala: 82.1% of adults, 90.9% of populationGuyana: 85.6% of adults, 93% of populationHonduras: 88.3% of adults, 95.5% of populationHaiti: 68% of adults, 53.9% of populationIndonesia: 96% of adults, 99.9% of populationIndia: 78.2% of adults, 99.9% of populationIran, Islamic Rep.: 88.9% of adults, 100% of populationIraq: 84.1% of adults, 100% of populationItaly: 99.3% of adults, 100% of populationJordan: 94.4% of adults, 100% of populationCambodia: 71.9% of adults, 99.2% of populationKiribati: 98.6% of adults, 97.7% of populationKuwait: 96.5% of adults, 100% of populationLao PDR: 75.6% of adults, 96.5% of populationLebanon: 92% of adults, 100% of populationLiberia: 59.4% of adults, 34.9% of populationSri Lanka: 92.7% of adults, 100% of populationLesotho: 90.4% of adults, 60.6% of populationLithuania: 99.8% of adults, 100% of populationLatvia: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationMacao SAR, China: 96.5% of adults, 100% of populationMorocco: 64.3% of adults, 100% of populationMoldova: 99.4% of adults, 100% of populationMadagascar: 74.7% of adults, 42.5% of populationMaldives: 98.2% of adults, 100% of populationMexico: 95.6% of adults, 99.8% of populationMarshall Islands: 95.8% of adults, 97.2% of populationMali: 35.6% of adults, 49.5% of populationMalta: 93.3% of adults, 100% of populationMyanmar: 93.5% of adults, 80.4% of populationMontenegro: 98.5% of adults, 100% of populationMongolia: 98.6% of adults, 99.1% of populationMozambique: 61.7% of adults, 36.9% of populationMauritania: 59.5% of adults, 52.2% of populationMauritius: 94.3% of adults, 100% of populationMalawi: 70.2% of adults, 15.6% of populationMalaysia: 95.8% of adults, 100% of populationNamibia: 87.6% of adults, 59.3% of populationNiger: 35.6% of adults, 21.3% of populationNigeria: 70.4% of adults, 62.5% of populationNicaragua: 87.3% of adults, 88.7% of populationNepal: 68.7% of adults, 97.9% of populationNaoero: 96.6% of adults, 100% of populationOman: 97.3% of adults, 100% of populationPakistan: 58.9% of adults, 95.7% of populationPanama: 96.2% of adults, 96% of populationPeru: 93.7% of adults, 96.5% of populationPhilippines: 98.5% of adults, 94.8% of populationPalau: 99.8% of adults, 100% of populationPapua New Guinea: 87% of adults, 43.3% of populationPuerto Rico (US): 92.4% of adults, 100% of populationPortugal: 94.5% of adults, 100% of populationParaguay: 94.9% of adults, 99.8% of populationWest Bank and Gaza: 97.9% of adults, 100% of populationQatar: 97.8% of adults, 100% of populationRomania: 99.2% of adults, 100% of populationRussian Federation: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationRwanda: 78.8% of adults, 72% of populationSaudi Arabia: 97.9% of adults, 100% of populationSenegal: 50.4% of adults, 82.9% of populationSingapore: 97.7% of adults, 100% of populationSierra Leone: 43.6% of adults, 39.2% of populationEl Salvador: 89.8% of adults, 98.7% of populationSan Marino: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 54.1% of adults, 54.4% of populationSerbia: 99.3% of adults, 100% of populationSao Tome and Principe: 87.4% of adults, 77.7% of populationSuriname: 92.9% of adults, 99% of populationEswatini: 90.8% of adults, 89.3% of populationSeychelles: 93.9% of adults, 100% of populationSyrian Arab Republic: 94.4% of adults, 89.3% of populationChad: 30.6% of adults, 13.4% of populationTogo: 72.6% of adults, 61.1% of populationThailand: 91.1% of adults, 100% of populationTurkmenistan: 99.9% of adults, 100% of populationTimor-Leste: 69.4% of adults, 94.3% of populationTonga: 99.5% of adults, 100% of populationTunisia: 86.3% of adults, 100% of populationTurkiye: 97.3% of adults, 100% of populationTuvalu: 100% of adults, 100% of populationTanzania: 78.2% of adults, 52.4% of populationUganda: 77% of adults, 55.3% of populationUruguay: 98.9% of adults, 100% of populationUzbekistan: 100% of adults, 100% of populationViet Nam: 96.1% of adults, 100% of populationVanuatu: 88% of adults, 65.5% of populationSamoa: 98% of adults, 100% of populationSouth Africa: 91.2% of adults, 90.2% of populationZambia: 71.8% of adults, 53.6% of populationZimbabwe: 93.2% of adults, 62% of populationAFGBDICAFMWINERPAKPNGRUSSENTCDTUVUZB

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.7372.4e-24135
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.7671.9e-27135
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.4302.2e-7135
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.4429.1e-8135

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 135 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.307 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.388 (without TCD) to +0.479 (without AFG). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: AFG (+0.050).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific23+0.11
Latin America & Caribbean24+0.78
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan18+0.31
Sub-Saharan Africa41+0.32

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third45+0.34
Middle third45+0.32
Richest third45+0.56

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians72+0.48
Muslims42+0.63

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France22+0.62
Never a European colony16-0.09
Spain18-0.14
United Kingdom42+0.30

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.390 after dropping 12 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 35years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

The link shows up within countries over time (r = +0.356) but mostly disappears in year-to-year changes (r = +0.119). That points to slow trends particular to each country, not the two measures moving together from year to year.

Across countries (adjusted)+0.430for comparison
Within countries+0.649each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere+0.356q = 0.006 · 77 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.119q = 0.565
Read with care.
  • Almost all of this indicator's variation is between countries, not within them, so the within-country estimate rests on a small part of the data.
  • Much of the within-country association disappears once shared global year effects are removed, which points to a common worldwide trend rather than a country-level relationship.
  • The association is much weaker in year-on-year changes than in levels, which points to shared country-specific trends.

773 country-years (one country in one year), 77 countries, 1990–2024, about 10 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 6% for Adult literacy, 11% for Electricity access. The margins of error allow for each country appearing many times, and for each year’s value being close to the year before.

Year-to-year changes are a cautious test, not a final answer. Looking only at changes from one year to the next removes each country’s own trends. But it also makes measurement mistakes louder, which pulls the results toward zero. A near-zero result here is weak evidence of no link, not proof.

With one measure years behind the other

0.50−0.5-100+10years Electricity access trails Adult literacy →lag -10: r = 0.214 (n = 635)lag -9: r = 0.244 (n = 649)lag -8: r = 0.207 (n = 663)lag -7: r = 0.246 (n = 681)lag -6: r = 0.252 (n = 704)lag -5: r = 0.263 (n = 709)lag -4: r = 0.270 (n = 716)lag -3: r = 0.302 (n = 719)lag -2: r = 0.302 (n = 734)lag -1: r = 0.352 (n = 748)lag +0: r = 0.356 (n = 773)lag +1: r = 0.391 (n = 744)lag +2: r = 0.384 (n = 714)lag +3: r = 0.346 (n = 680)lag +4: r = 0.368 (n = 646)lag +5: r = 0.388 (n = 600)lag +6: r = 0.384 (n = 533)lag +7: r = 0.401 (n = 465)lag +8: r = 0.443 (n = 410)lag +9: r = 0.294 (n = 356)lag +10: r = 0.247 (n = 317)

Same year (lag 0): +0.356. A peak away from zero does not show which comes first. These series change slowly — this year’s value is close to last year’s. That makes the curve smooth and nearly symmetric, whatever produced the data. Even a sharp peak at one lag (a gap of some years) would not prove that one measure changes the other.

The largest value on this curve (+0.44 at lag +8) is higher than the same-year one by 0.09. That gap is not a finding. It is the largest of 21 closely related estimates, and picking the biggest of many tests always makes it look bigger. That is exactly why nothing on this site is ranked or chosen by lag.

The data


% of adults
% of population		Years
Uzbekistan UZB100%100%2022, 2024
Tuvalu TUV100%100%2022, 2024
Russian Federation RUS99.9%100%2021, 2024
San Marino SMR99.9%100%2022, 2024
Turkmenistan TKM99.9%100%2022, 2024
Latvia LVA99.9%100%2011, 2024
Estonia EST99.9%100%2011, 2024
Belarus BLR99.9%100%2019, 2024
Palau PLW99.8%100%2020, 2024
Armenia ARM99.8%100%2023, 2024
Lithuania LTU99.8%100%2011, 2024
Azerbaijan AZE99.8%100%2023, 2024
Spain ESP99.7%100%2021, 2024
Georgia GEO99.7%100%2024
Tonga TON99.5%100%2023, 2024

World Bank, World Development Indicators
World Bank, World Development Indicators

Sources

Adult literacy

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Reported only in census or survey years for most countries, so the data are sparse and uneven rather than yearly.

Electricity access

Access to electricity (% of population)

World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2024. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 6 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Adult literacy and Electricity access

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Adult literacy changes Electricity access, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Adult literacy or Electricity access